Summary: In this episode, we built a Death Star and made Alderaan pay for it! While waiting for the check to clear, we overanalyzed the Death Star as a stand-in for nuclear weapons throughout the Star Wars movies but especially in Rogue One (2016). How much did the franchise borrow nuclear weapon imagery? What similarities are there in the strategies for using either nuclear weapons or Death Stars? Will the Empire ever consider investing its resources more into galactic poverty reduction and less into overly vulnerable battle stations? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more. We also play a round of the classic game: Is This a Star Wars Name or Someone Who Invented Nuclear Weapons? (Trademark pending…) Before we go rogue, we recommend reading: -Tim Westmyer, “Death Star: Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January 4, 2017 -Cass Sunstein, The World According to Star Wars (2016) -Chris Taylor, How Star Wars Conquered the Universe (2015) Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube. Enjoy!
